OK, before I start I want everyone to know that I think PETA is the biggest joke of an organization out there. They even criticized Obama for something I wouldn't have even criticized him for, killing a fly on TV. They are a joke, but I kind of agree with the message they were trying to get across here. Breeders of animals need to stop for awhile and let the shelters get emptied out. I volunteer at an animal shelter on occasion and it is just sad to see all the great animals in there that are in need of good homes, but people would rather have their Labradoodles, Pure bred goldens, or the flavor of the day dog out there. Just my opinion, but I kind of agree with PETA on this one. Yes, the Dog show says to go to a shelter, but come on. That is like us saying "root for the Ravens"

NEW YORK – Sadie the Scottie was fully expected to reach the purple podium at America's top dog show. She did, after two intruders turned the center ring at Westminster into their own platform.

The heavily favored Scottish terrier won best in show Tuesday night and seemed to be an easy choice. Her team waited quite a while for this victory — it took a little longer, too, because of a startling protest inspired by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Shortly before judge Elliott Weiss picked Sadie, a pair of well-dressed women walked into the big ring at Madison Square Garden and held signs over their heads that said "Mutts Rule" and "Breeders Kill Shelter Dogs' Chances," the latter a slogan popularized by PETA.
The crowd of 15,000 gasped at the sudden protest, booed the women and then cheered as a half-dozen security guards ushered them away without incident.

PETA members Dana Sylvester and Hope Round were charged with criminal trespass, police said. They acted on their own, the organization said, but it supported them.

The interruption lasted about a minute and came between judging of a Doberman pinscher and brittany. Moments later, 4-year-old Sadie climbed the best in show podium where one of the women had stood.

"I thought it was well-controlled by our people," Westminster spokesman David Frei said, without elaborating. Frei, the host of USA Network's coverage, is a veteran of the show world and a longtime advocate of therapy and rescue dogs.

Sadie was a big favorite coming into the show, which is for 2,500 purebred dogs. There have been previous PETA protests at Westminster, but none nearly so dramatic. During every day of the show, the public-address announcer at the Garden reads an announcement urging people to visit shelters and adopt their dogs.

PETA contends the focus on purebreds leaves many mutts homeless. In a statement, vice president Daphna Nachminovitch said "euthanasia becomes a sad necessity."

Sadie earned her 112th best in show ribbon. The last time a show dog came to Westminster ranked No. 1 in America and actually won was 2001, when a perfectly primped bichon frise called J.R. did it.

Also reaching the final ring were a brittany that recently had two litters, a whippet that can run 35 mph, a Doberman pinscher headed into retirement, a white toy poodle who overcame his anxiety around crowds, a Canadian-bred French bulldog and a puli that twice won the herding group.

Her tongue out and her tail wagging, Sadie was right in step with Rangel. She is owned by Amelia Musser of Mackinac Island, Mich., and sports the champion's name of Roundtown Mercedes of Maryscot.

Rangel kidded that his relationship with Sadie was like a marriage. "I'm happily married," he said, "as long as I say, 'Yes, honey.'"

Sadie became the eighth Scottie to win at Westminster, second most to the 13 wins by wire fox terriers. She was the record 45th terrier to win in a show that began in 1877.

Judge Elliott Weiss picked the winner. He'd already seen Sadie — he chose her as the winner of an event in North Carolina last September.

Sadie became the first Triple Crown winner of dogdom. She took the National Dog Show in suburban Philadelphia in November and the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship in California in December.

She also did well last year at the world's largest show — Crufts, in England, draws nearly 25,000 dogs — when she was judged as the best Scottish terrier.

This was Sadie's third try at Westminster. She got spooked by strange sounds at the Garden two years ago, and last February had a potty accident on the green carpet.

Dogs from 173 breeds and varieties entered this show. Sadie takes over as Westminster champ from Stump, the 10-year-old Sussex spaniel who'd come to New York as an underdog.

Sadie was set to go on the talk-show circuit Wednesday and make a visit to Donald Trump. By night, maybe she'd see herself.

"She likes to watch TV," Rangel said. "We have dinner together at the hotel and watch Animal Planet

Love the message that they are sending out with this....but it's too bad the people who follow PETA don't know that PETA kills thousands of shelter animals every year. Talk about hypocrisy.

Quote:

From July 1998 through December 2008, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) killed over 21,000 dogs, cats, and other "companion animals." That's more than five defenseless creatures every day. PETA has a walk-in freezer to store the dead bodies, and contracts with a Virginia Beach company to cremate them.

Not counting the pets PETA spayed and neutered, the group put to death over 90 percent of the animals it took in during the last five years. And its angel-of-death pattern shows no sign of changing.

I mean, if you're going to be about a no-kill policy, at least practice what you preach.

I read this awhile ago also. Like you, I just liked the message, too bad it was from that idiotic and hypocritical organization (PETA - People Eating Tasty Animals). I am a firm beleiver that if you do want a purebred contact the rescue groups for the breed you want, there are enough of them out there.

Sorry---have to disagree
As SteelCityMom has pointed out, PeTA has the highest kill rate of any shelter system in the world. In fact, Ingrid Newkirk (the founder of PeTA) is rather insane. Here is a link to her Will:

People need to understand the purpose of dog shows, including Westminster

It isn't because breeders are trying to line their pockets with money...in fact, it COSTS money (a lot) to show dogs. The point of showing dogs is to perpetuate the breed---to ensure that the Labrador Retriever, the Scottish Terrier, and all of the other breeds continue to exist with the healthy characteristics that are expected in those breeds. Breeders typically are VERY responsible about what they breed. Now, I am NOT talking about the so-called "Backyard Breeder" who simply puts a male and female together in the backyard and then sells the puppies for large amounts of money. I'm talking about those that devote their lives to producing VERY healthy (which generally means spending a lot of money testing the sires and dames to be bred for any known health issues---all breeds have them) animals that exemplify the characteristics of each breed. Westminister and the other shows came about as a forum to show that the dogs one was breeding conformed to those high standards. It's why the AKC was formed---to promote responsible breeding in order to preserve the breeds. Many breeds have actually become extinct because this was not done...it would be sad to no longer have those breeds.

Now, I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY that irresponsible breeding MUST be stopped. But how?
The Labradoodle and the other "Designer Dogs" are an abomination, IMO.
Probably what happed was someone's Labrador Retreiver and Poodle accidentally had a litter and the "breeder" called it a Labradoodle and decided to charge a lot of money for it----then all the other Labradoodle people jumped on board. The problem is that they sell for a reason----the gullible public can be convinced of anything---that this is a "Designer Dog". People I know who have them get really pissed of when I tell them what a nice MUTT that they have and that it surprises me when people pay so much for a MUTT!

I also believe wholeheartedly that ANY dog that is not going to be participating in dog shows should be spayed or neutered. One way to prevent overcrowding of shelters is to prevent unwanted dogs in the first place. The problem is that dogs that are in shelters generally come from people that are not responsible dog owners. You simply CANNOT punish the responsible owners and breeders because of the irresponsible ones.

Because I know someone will ask---
Yes. I have dogs. Yes. They are purebred. Yes. They are dog show dogs (some of them). Yes. They are health-tested for joints, eyes, heart.
Yes. I also own 2 pitbulls (the MOST misunderstood breed, by far---but that's a discussion for another day). Yes. They were rescued from dog shelters. One male---neutered. One female---spayed.
12 dogs at my house. Purebreds (have had mutts in the past). Some are show dogs. Some are not (these are all spayed/neutered). Some are rescued from shelters (specifically stray pitbulls after Hurricane Katrina from the Louisiana SPCA)

If you really want to know more about PeTA, go to You Tube and search for the Penn and Teller episode of "Bullsh*t" where they show you how Full of PeTA really is...

and read Ingrid's will...

I have a lot more to say on this subject, but I have to run...I'm happy to discuss anything about dogs...

These are some of our show dogs---some stay with us; some stay with the co-owner in Nashville

__________________
... I firmly believe that any man's finest hour...is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
--Vince Lombardi

Just for the record, I am not condoning that organization PETA, not one bit. I do beleive though that there are WAY, WAY too many dogs in shelters, and yet breeders keep breeding, both legitimate and illigitimate breeders. Meanwhile that poor dog or cat or snake or bison or horse, whether it be from an irresponsible owner or runaway or whatever, sits behind the fence waiting to get euthanized. In my opinion, the AKC promotes this with the showing off of these dogs. I do not want purebreds to go away, I am a fan of them (family owns a couple of them), but I think that breeding should be severely regulated and toned down. When you look in the want adds of the paper and see adds for litters of AKC puppies for sale for hundreds of dollars, then in the same column the shelters advertising their dogs for adoption and begging people to adopt them, something is seriously wrong.

Just for the record, I am not condoning that organization PETA, not one bit. I do beleive though that there are WAY, WAY too many dogs in shelters, and yet breeders keep breeding, both legitimate and illigitimate breeders. Meanwhile that poor dog or cat or snake or bison or horse, whether it be from an irresponsible owner or runaway or whatever, sits behind the fence waiting to get euthanized. In my opinion, the AKC promotes this with the showing off of these dogs. I do not want purebreds to go away, I am a fan of them (family owns a couple of them), but I think that breeding should be severely regulated and toned down. When you look in the want adds of the paper and see adds for litters of AKC puppies for sale for hundreds of dollars, then in the same column the shelters advertising their dogs for adoption and begging people to adopt them, something is seriously wrong.

I agree that there are way too many dogs---generally, though, breeders that advertise in the newspaper are Not responsible breeders...

__________________
... I firmly believe that any man's finest hour...is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.
--Vince Lombardi

We've always had shelter dogs and cats or that would have ended up as such. Right now I'm happy with my little Pitween mutt (she's half Pit and half Weiner dog...a big mistake from an owner who didn't think it was possible for her male Pit to knock up her female Weiner dog lol). I'm not completely against responsible breeding though, just puppy mills and random home breeding for money. I've known very responsible breeders (of Great Danes, and had a hand in raising a good number of the pups) and while they did sell the pups for money, they screened their buyers very hard.

I also have a friend who was a very, very irresponsible breeder. She rescued a couple of Pits (one male, one female) and never had them spayed or neutered because she thought it would be a great idea to breed them and make some money. She thought it was such a cute idea to have puppies running around, and I get that part a little...they are cute, but the second litter she bred ended up getting a highly fatal case of Parvo. I was always so mad and upset that it took an extreme situation like that to get her to finally get her dogs fixed.